Obstetrical head snare



y 1955 F. c. MURRAY 2,709,438

OBSTETRICAL HEAD SNARE Filed March 23, 1954 IN VEN TOR.

ligzbifiW/wrraa ATTGNNE'YJ Unite T OBSTETRECAL HEAD SNARE Farish C. Murray, Shamrock, Tex.

Application March 23, 1954, Serial No. 418,013

1 Claim. (Cl. 123-361) This invention relates to an obstetrical instrument and more particularly to an instrument for extracting the head of the fetus from the birth passage.

The primary object of the invention is to safely apply traction power to the head of a fetus in cases of difficult parturition in cows to enable traction to be safely and effectively applied and thereby to assist delivery.

Another object is to enable the tractive force to be exerted on the occipital bone which is recognized by obstetricians as being the point at which traction is least likely to result in injury and also to assure that the tractive force will be exerted on the fetal head with the muzzle extended to simulate normal parturition.

Still another object is to employ the self-braking ac tion of the slide to preserve its adjustment cable.

The above and other objects may be attained by en1- ploying this invention which embodies among its features a closed flexible loop adapted to encircle the head of the fetus, a slide carried by the loop for movement therealong to contract the loop about the head of the fetus, and an eye carried by the loop for coupling traction means to the loop.

Other features include juxtaposed tubular guides encircling opposite sides of the flexible loop, tubular legs carried by the tubular guides and extending longitudinally therefrom along divergent paths, and a cross bar carried by and extending between the legs adjacent the ends thereof remote from the tubular guides to define with a portion of the loop a head snare.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of an obstetrical instrument embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is an edge view of the instrument illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view of the instrument showing it in encircling relation with the head of a fetus;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the slide;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, this improved head snare designated generally 10 comprises a length of cable 12, the ends of which are brought together and Fatented May 31, 1955 joined by a suitable sleeve 14 carrying an eye 16 to which a traction cable 18 is adapted to be connected in any conventional manner.

Mounted for sliding movement on the cable 12 between the bight B thereof and the sleeve 14 is a slide designated generally 20 which comprises spaced parallel tubular members 22 which are joined to one another in substantially juxtaposed relation. Carried by the tubular guides 22 and projecting longitudinally from the ends thereof toward the bight B are divergent tubular legs 24 carrying adjacent their ends remote from the tubular members 22 a cross bar 26 which defines with the bight B a head snare, as will be readily understood upon reference to Figure 3. Carried by and extending longitudinally from the tubular guides 22 along paths which diverge as they recede from the tubular guides are legs 23 which encircle the respective parts of the cable 12 on opposite sides of the snare and carry adjacent their ends remote from the tubular guides 22 a cross member 30. By encircling the opposite sides of the bight B of the cable 12 with the tubular guides 22 and legs 24 and 23, it will be obvious that the slide 20 may be moved along the cable to cooperate with the bight B in defining head snares of different sizes.

In use, the bight B of the cable 12 is introduced into the birth passage and placed over the head of the fetus with the bight resting on the superior surface of the fetal head over the occipital bone. The slide 20 is then advanced along the cable and introduced into the mouth of the fetus or beneath the lower jaw thereof. Traction is then exerted on the eye 16 as by employing the cable 18 and the fetus will be delivered with the fetal head straight and the muzzle extended as in normal parturition. In this Way, injury to the fetus is avoided and difiicult de liveries may be readily overcome.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A slide for defining with a closed loop of flexible material an obstetrical head snare, said slide comprising juxtaposed tubular guides encircling opposite sides of the flexible loop, tubular legs carried by the tubular guides in encircling relation to opposite sides of the flexible loop, and said legs diverging as they recede from the tubular guides and a cross bar carried by and extending between the legs adjacent the ends thereof remote from the tubular guides to define with a portion of the loop a head snare.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 868,138 Sisler Oct. 15, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS I 581,090 Germany July 21, 193 

